I’m currently in Belfast having just given a talk for the Northern Ireland Science Festival.

Check out this cool patch that uses your webcam to create two areas on the screen that act like buttons, which you can use to trigger off whatever you like! Yes, I know my hand is blue – I’m working on that… It’s available under the Video Capture examples in the File menu.

The latest development builds are available for download with new command line options for controlling the loading of plugins.

You can install the snap build using the following:

snap install --edge fugio --devmode

NEW: Command Line Options (see below for examples)

NEW: Experimental Linux snap builds for i386, x64, and armhf

NEW: Core/ProcessClick node

NEW: Two Video Buttons and Multiple AND examples

UPDATE: OpenCV/CountNonZero accepts a Region Of Interest (ROI)

FIXED: Kinect wasn’t working properly after image changes

Command Line Options

The new command line options for Fugio allow you to enable or disable plugin loading, set the OpenGL backed, set the language, and define variables for plugins.

The path to the Fugio or FugioShow executable is different on each platform:

Windows:

C:\Program Files\Fugio\bin\Fugio.exe

macOS:

/Applications/Fugio/Fugio.app/Contents/MacOS/Fugio

Linux:

which fugio

Replace [fugio] in the examples below with the path to the Fugio or FugioShow application on your platform.

Show the command line options:

[fugio] -h

Only load the core and math plugins:

[fugio] --enable-plugin fugio-core --enable-plugin fugio-math

Don’t load the PortAudio plugin:

[fugio] --disable-plugin fugio-portaudio

Run Fugio in German:

[fugio] --locale de

Run Fugio in Spanish:

[fugio] -l es

Load a patch:

[fugio] path/to/your/patch.fug

You can load more than one patch by listing them all on the command line.

I made the mysterious image at the top of this post using Fugio to process some footage I shot when recently in Venice. I’m currently working on a series of these “algorithmic photographs” for an upcoming exhibition (plus talks and workshops!) at Texas A&M university in a few weeks. You can see the latest images on my Instagram feed.

Following on from last week, I’ve been putting the finishing touches to my new Jenkins based build system for Fugio.

From now on you’ll be able to download the latest development build for Windows 32 and 64 bit, macOS, Linux, and Raspberry Pi.

Once the builds are deemed stable, they will be moved to the stable download section and work will begin on the next release.

Apart from being able to keep 5 different build platforms up to date, it means that new features and bug fixes will be available sooner.

On GitHub, the new release branch will now start at the beginning of the release cycle, instead of the end. The develop branch will be merged with the release branch once new code is ready to be tested.

Please test the new builds and let me know if there are any problems. Every system has their own complex way of building and distributing software that I’ve had to learn and grapple with. This release is a whole new implementation across the board so there may be a few problems.

Finally, the whole build system is now cmake based rather than using qmake, which is the culmination of weeks of work.

Have a good weekend!

If you want to support Fugio development then please consider joining my Patreon page to help fund future work.

So I’ve been taking a little break from the Fugio Friday as I’m flat out working on the final run up to a new permanent art installation in London that is using… Fugio, of course!

I’m also working on some big changes for the first release of 2018:

For the first time in Fugio’s history, I’m doing some changes that will almost certainly break a few patches. The main issue I’ve had is how Fugio deals differently with pins that have a single value (say a 2D Point), and a pin that has multiple values (like an array). I want to simplify this interface, which will enable more succinct patches, faster processing, and easier Lua code. The example screenshot here shows the Lua script processing an array of 2D points using the new interface.

As Fugio is able to work on more platforms, I’ve finally ventured into the world of automated builds. I’m now running Jenkins to build Win32, Win64, macOS, Raspberry Pi, and now a Linux binary distribution:

These are all being build off the feature/cmake branch, which will become the default build method in 2018.

I’ve still got a little way to go before these releases will be ready for you to download, but I’m working on it! Don’t forget you can support the ongoing work by signing up for my Fugio Patreon page!

In light of the recent attacks on net neutrality in the states, it’s vitally important to explore and participate in new technologies for supporting diversity and revenue generation on the internet to sustain its open architecture without relying on big corporations for access and ad revenue.

Flattr is a service where you pay a small amount (I pay $5 a month), install a web browser extension, and it automatically gets distributed to websites that you visit (that have signed up to Flattr) – sign up through https://flattr.com/@bigfug and I get $3 referral!

This is the first time I’ve done a binary release for Raspberry Pi, so please let me know if you run into any problems in the comments below.

Check out the new GPIO node if you want to access the Raspberry Pi’s pins. I’m doing some work with this at the moment for controlling RGB LED’s and it’s working for simple I/O.

Currently it’s not possible to utilise the accelerated video decoding on the Pi as there are some incompatibilities that I still have to resolve, so don’t expect the video decoding to work at full speed.

What else is new?

Obviously this wasn’t just a case of compiling the source code on a Raspberry Pi. I had to do a lot of work on the OpenGL side to support OpenGL ES, allowing accelerated graphics.

To simplify using OpenGL shaders on all platforms, I’ve added a new node called “Easy Shader 2D”, which avoids having to add geometry and other OpenGL support nodes. See the new examples.

You’ll also notice a big change when you start Fugio up – we have a wonderful new logo that was designed by Eleanor Hyland-Stanbrook.

There’s a new plugin: NDI for sending and receiving video over a network (the 1,000th commit on GitHub).

There’s some new nodes for working with arrays of bits like IntToBits, AndBits, XorBits, etc. If you’re interested in modelling logic systems, these will save you lots of nodes!

This release also has the first build of FugioShow which is a small application for running the patches you’ve designed with Fugio without the editor.

Wow, that was a lot of new stuff! You’ll have noticed that there hasn’t been a Fugio Friday for a while. This was mainly because I’m super busy working on my art commission for the Francis Crick Institute, and also the large amount of changes needed to be made to the OpenGL side to support the Pi.

Finally, Fugio – my node based multimedia programming environment – continues to be free and open source, so no further discount is possible, however if you’re in a giving mood, donations are always welcome!

This is because – until now – most FFGL utilising software (including Resolume 2, 3, 4, and 5) have been 32-bit based. Now, with Resolume 6, they’ve gone 64-bit only, which is a great move that I applaud! If you’re not sure what all this 32/64 bit stuff means, click here to find out!

This means that all existing FFGL plugins (including mine) need to be upgraded to 64-bit in order to work with Resolume 6.

The good news is that I’m working on this right now and should be releasing them in time for Black Friday (24th November 2017).

fugFeedback working in Resolume 6

The other good news is that fugFeedback now works on layers, and fugScope is now a source plugin, not an effect.

There isn’t really any bad news, other than we now have lots of you out there who are probably have some questions about migrating to the new plugins.

Firstly, there will not be an automatic upgrade. I think you’d agree that the plugins are really cheap so if you can afford to be running Resolume, I reckon you can afford to buy the plugins again. All the money goes to supporting creative software development and art!

Secondly, I’ve had people buying the 32-bit plugins for Resolume 6 and emailing me that they don’t work. If you bought these plugins since the beginning of October 2017, I will give you a free voucher so you can get the 64-bit ones when they are released.